Utilización de la conectividad hidrológica para evaluar la transferencia de metales entre sedimentos fluviales
Por:
Suárez P., Vega M.
Publicada:
1 ene 2017
Resumen:
Hydrologic connectivity is the transfer of matter, energy, and/or organisms, mediated by water, within and between the elements of the hydrological cycle. These exchanges are closely related to the effect of anthropic activity on the water bodies. The transfer of metals between water and sediments is an important phenomenon in rivers. In this study, the Shallow Vertical Connectivity is proposed as a new dimension of hydrologic connectivity, allowing to compare the concentration of metals between surface sediments (exposed to permanent ion exchange with the water column) and deep sediments (not influenced by recent physical or chemical alterations at the surface). The work is focused on the Negro River, a plain river system located in the Chaco-Pampeana Plain (Northeast of Argentina) that crosses a protected natural wetland and is one important tributary of the Paraná River, the main water resource of the region. The main objective of this research was to identify variations in the concentration of easily exchangeable major metals in sediments, taking into account the shallow vertical and the lateral dimensions, in order to evaluate the effect of human activities on this fluvial system and to provide information for its correct management. The concentrations of water-exchangeable major metals were analyzed in surface and subsurface sediments, sampled from the channel and the alluvial plain at four sampling points along the river course. The results indicate that, in general, there were no statistically significant vertical variations in the leachable metal content. In the lateral dimension, concentrations of leachable metals in channel sediments were hundredfold higher than in floodplain sediments because the channel sediments are in permanent contact with the water column thus receiving polluting discharges (industry, agriculture and urban), demonstrating the harmful effect of anthropic activities on the river sedimentological history. © 2017, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. All rights reserved.
Filiaciones:
Suárez P.:
Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral Ruta Provincial, No 5, 2.5 km, Corrientes, Argentina
Vega M.:
Universidad de Valladolid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Analítica, Campus Miguel Delibes, Paseo de Belén 7, Valladolid, Spain
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